It’s taken me a while to try to figure out the CBC’s new five year plan. It’s called 2015: Everyone, Every Way and it is rife with platitudes about where CBC is going, but extremely short on details. And as we all know, the devil is in the details.
It’s not that I think CBC President and CEO Hubert Lacroix is pulling a fast one. From all reports he seems like a good guy who cares not only about public broadcasting but about the people who will have to make the changes he foresees. My problem is that I don’t get what he and Kirstine Stewart are actually trying to accomplish.
In broad strokes, they are talking about the CBC English service becoming more Canadian, more local and more digital. Sounds okay so far, but except for the digital part it is nothing we haven’t heard for the past few years. The CBC is already almost totally Canadian in prime time. Yes, in summer, late at night and during holiday periods U.S. films and series pop up to fill out the schedule. Does this mean that next summer we will get Canadian films and re-runs of Canadian series? I suspect the audience would have liked it better the old way but hey, they’re going back to their mandate, a word that was lost during the Stursberg era. It also looks like Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune are toast on the CBC. While the nationalists in the crowd will cheer, I am left to wonder where the big money these two shows generated will come from and what effect that will have on Canadian production in prime time. While I am totally in favor of the CBC being 100% Canadian, I’m afraid I have to live in the real world. Money, not platitudes is all that counts in broadcasting today. It takes millions of dollars to produce a new drama or sitcom. Since we all know that Stephen Harper is not inclined to give the CBC more than it gets today, and since based on all previous experiences we can guess that the loss of American movies and series will result in fewer viewers and that fewer viewers mean less advertising revenue, I have to ask the question: where Mr. Lacroix do you intend to get the money to produce your all Canadian programs?
Looking at what details we have it actually gets worse. Mr. Lacroix and Ms. Stewart are also talking about beefing up local television, especially in areas that are under-served or not served at all by CTV and Global. He says the lack of local news and stories is actually an opportunity for the CBC to reconnect with Canadians. I sure hope this works because it is both necessary and overdue. But again, let’s not kid ourselves, the CBC went back into local news in, what is for them, a big way in past couple of years. They reopened newsrooms and added 30 to 60 minutes to local newscasts. What goes unsaid is that CBC local newscasts are embarrassingly bad. A handful of hard working folks try to cover big cities or vast provinces without the resources to succeed. The result has been dismal ratings. So few people are watching CBC local news it would be cheaper to send out CD’s rather than bother to air the program. Even in B.C. where the CBC hired the biggest name in west coast news history the ratings have been terrible. Without the money and the staff, as the CBC has proved, there is no point in making the effort. I would be all in favor of a well financed return to local TV. It was a huge error to allow local TV to flounder since the mid-80’s, but if you can’t fund it, don’t do it. The money can be better used elsewhere.
The five year plan also talks about the return of culture. Does anyone who watches the CBC remember culture? There was a time when ballet, modern dance and opera actually appeared on the CBC. It cost a truckload of money to produce and provided tiny but loyal audiences. I miss this programming and wish it were still a part of the mandate. If the CBC doesn’t produce it, it will not get done. CTV and Global are not in the habit of making expensive shows that produce audiences of less than 200,000. So while I love the idea, I ask once again, Mr. Lacroix, where will the money come from?
It’s a whole new digital world out there. I am glad the CBC brass recognizes this, people now download and watch TV shows when they want to, not when the network schedule says they have to watch it. The CBC is talking about doubling its spending on digital services. More big bucks spent on non-TV and radio product.
The new plan even talks about new CBC channels for sports, kids and arts and entertainment. It mentions new local weekend and morning news programs. It promises new “micro” news websites for large local communities, naming Hamilton and the Montreal suburb of Longueuil. All of the ideas cost real dollars. Dollars the CBC doesn’t have.
Everyone, Every Way leaves me with more questions than answers. There is no mention of increasing local news staff and budgets. In fact the plan calls for streamlining staff, I read that as cuts. Will the new morning and weekend news programs have dedicated staffs or will the already overburdened local news teams be expected to stretch even more? Will the digital web sites be staffed and funded? Will new channels have original programming or just be places to rerun network shows? If there is to be new programs how will they be paid for, subscription? Will we be forced to buy more channels we have no intention of ever viewing?
The truth is, and we all know it. The money is not there to do everything, some might say anything in 2015: Everyone, Every Way. So what is this really about? Is this a PR stunt? Is this meant to show that the Stursberg era is past? If so, I have a few better ideas. Fix up The National and CBC NN. Make them relevant again by producing quality stories we actually care about and lose the pap and thin gruel that fill your airwaves and erode your audiences. Begin to produce dramas and comedies with some heft that tackle serious issues in an adult way. Little Mosque on the Prairie and Being Erica are okay, but they are what we expect from any broadcaster, they do not speak to the needs of a national broadcaster. Not all programs have to be heavy or serious, but the odd one or two each week would be a pleasant change.
In other words, it’s time to fix what you do now before you spread your dollars even more thinly. Mr. Lacroix, I have no beef with your ideas, I just don’t believe they are real.
Filed under: Media Commentary, Being Erica, CBC, CTV, Global, Hubert Lacroix, Jeopardy!, Kirstine Stewart, Little Mosque on the Prairie, The National, Wheel of Fortune
I'm Mad as Hell 
The CBC’s overall annual budget is approaching $2 billion. Why the fuss about a plan whose cost is said to be $31 million–that represents well under 2% of the budget. That’s rounding error in most business plans.
Barry Kiefl
Barry…the problem isn’t the $31 million. The problem is the plan is unsustainable with $31 million and does nothing to fix the content problems the CBC has now. The among which which is understaffing and underfunding of news at the local level. Piling on more work and programming while streamlining is similar to George W. Bush waging war in Iraq and cutting taxes. I know we have become used to the inflated promises of politicians that we know will never materialize, but should we expect the same behaviour from the CBC?
I guess my point is not that there aren’t problems worth fixing, it is that thinking on this scale is not going to do result in much, so why the fuss? CBC should be thinking about how to solve its looming funding issue, such as a tax on cable/satellite subscriptions now that BCE/Shaw/Rogers/Videotron have gotten into the TV business, and not advertize that there are efficiences that could still be made.
CBCNN doesn’t need fixing. It makes $80 million a year which is more than double what CTV News Channel generates. It also has double the viewers compared to CTVNC. It’s Canada’s most successful all-news channel.
I would point to the elimination of Bold and documentary as a way to cut costs, which in turn could fund the elusive all-sports channel CBC has grated by the CRTC in 2008 and/or a CBC Kids channel. Both of these speciality channels would be profitable in my opinion.
CBC Arts? Would be very expensive to run and most likely would lose money. I’d rather see CBC Films to display all-Canadian movies and documentaries 24/7. Also how about using all that archival footage and creating CBC Archives?
4 new speciality channels by 2013. That should be the future.
Hi Colin…you are right as far as revenue is concerned. The problem is CBC NN revenues are all part of the CBC general revenue. Most of the revenue generated goes towards network news and programming. CTV News Channel is not a great comparison. It’s like saying the Lleafs have more wins than the Islanders. Big deal. Both channels have too few viewers to matter. CBC NN makes its money because of “must carry.” We have to pay for the channel whether we want it or not. That will be ending soon and I fear the revenues will drop significantly.
I don’t believe CBC will ever get an all sports channel. The CBC can’t afford the content and they can’t compete with Bell, Rogers and soon Shaw/Global in bidding wars. Unless they plan all amateur, high school and college sports, they will have a lot of dead air. Hey they just lost soccer.
I didn’t say the CBC should go into arts programming, Hubert Lacroix and Kirstine Stewart did. This programming is crazy expensive.
It’s true, the real money is in specialty channels because of subscription funds. It doesn’t matter if nobody watches. But even here the market is getting tougher. With all the choice out there and the costs for all the packages rising, specialty stations have to be able to compete for subscription saless. In the past few years we have seen several specialty channels shut down and a few who were granted licenses never started up.
The CBC five year plan is not workable in my opinion. If there is money available I would spend it on improving the services that are already available.
I’ll Second what Colin says in regard to a CBC Archives specialty channel. I would happily subscribe to a retro style channel if it included runs of my favourites from the past like The Tommy Hunter Show and Front Page Challenge. Showing vintage TV from its glorious past in order to help raise funds to produce new shows seems like a good idea to me, though I realize it would only go so far. How about it, Hubert?
I think CBC should drop local news programming altogether. It is an utter failure and always will be. As you said, the shows are embarassing and the ratings are terrible. Actually, Toronto local news is probably the worst (quality of show AND ratings) and yet it’s in the biggest market. They’ve tried to be “more local” and failed. It’s time to admit that fact and move on.
I believe CBC was approved for a sports channel provided that about 2/3 of its coverage is amateur sports. That would certainly make the channel different from its competitors, but I fear that wouldn’t be profitable. How many people would subscribe to an amateur sports channel?